"I have sworn, upon the Altar of God, eternal hostility toward every form of tyranny over the mind of man." Jefferson

Monday, February 04, 2013

In Defense of Situational Ethics

If
God is the source of moral values, what is moral and immoral, therefore,
transcends personal opinion or societal norms. Without the transcendent (or
substitute “rule of law” if you are a secularist) individuals are then free to
make up their own moral standards. Such moral relativism brings to mind a
Hobbsian world of mayhem, because it means that murder, for example, is not
objectively wrong. It's a matter of personal feeling, or societal norm. Most people
do not confront these consequences of moral relativism because it is hard for
decent people to realize that saying “I think murder is wrong” is as
meaningless as saying “I think purple is ugly” under such a system.

However,
there is one aspect of moral relativism that confuses many (particularly my fellow
Christians, who believe in moral absolutes)—the assumption that situational
ethics is the same thing as moral relativism. It is a mistake to argue that
just as an individual’s determination of right and wrong negates moral
absolutes, allowing situations to determine right and wrong also negates moral
absolutes. This is a misunderstanding of the meaning of moral absolutes. A
moral absolute means that if an act is right or wrong, it is right or wrong for
everyone in the identical situation. This is also called universal morality.

But
“EVERYONE” is not the same as “EVERY SITUATION.” An act that is wrong, is wrong
for everyone in the SAME situation, but almost no act is wrong in EVERY
situation. Sex in a loving relationship is good, but when violently coerced, it
is rape. Truth telling is usually right, but if Nazis asked you where a Jewish
family was hiding, telling them the truth would have been evil. Likewise, it is
the situation that determines when killing is wrong. That is why the Ten
Commandments say “Do not murder,” not “Do not kill.” Murder is immoral killing,
and it is the situation that determines when killing is wrong. Pacifists argue that
it is wrong to take a life in any situation. This is based on the mistaken
belief that absolute morality means “in every situation” rather than “for everyone
in the same situation.”

The
key element in morality remains this: There is good and evil, independent of
personal or societal opinion, and in order to determine what it is, one must
ask, “How would God judge this action in light of context, situation, and
motive?”